How The Boy is the Girl-Power Horror Movie You Never Expected

Scary roles are NBD for Lauren Cohan, who is best known for her role on The Walking Dead. Lauren is NOT afraid to play roles where screaming is often involved and where fans may, or may not, jump out of their seats. That’s why her newest role in The Boy, as a nanny of a porcelain doll in a giant, remote house in England, is the perfect fit. We sat down with the 34-year-old actress earlier this month and learned all about the new thriller, her role as Maggie Greene on TWD, and got a little spooked in the process.

The Boy, which hits theaters on January 22, is NOT your average horror movie. In fact, it has a lot of girl-power elements it in, which is totally badass. It might be about a little boy slash doll, but Lauren’s character Greta Evans is actually the heroine you never expected, but will be pleasantly surprised to see. See what the film’s leading lady thinks about her character and the creepiness of her doll co-star below. Plus, Lauren opened up about her stint on The Vampire Diaries, where she played Rose (the vampire who hooked up with Damon Salvatore in season two) and talked about the epic cast we all love.

STX Entertainment

The story has a bit of a girl power feel to it, which is awesome. What would you tell your female fans in regards to standing up for themselves/not being a victim, like Greta was in the beginning?

“I think that Greta really makes some hard choices here. She does the best thing she can, by getting away from her past, from her situation. I think during the course of the movie, she finds who she is and then she doesn’t let that go. I think that’s a really important thing to hold onto [and] to say, ‘this is the level I’m operating at, these are my expectations, and this is how I know I should be treated and I know that my life should be.’ So hold on to that and don’t let anybody tell you different.”

Why does it always have to be dolls?! Were you at all creeped out while filming?

“I know! I did! She sort of falls in love with him a little bit, because she does start to believe that he’s the real thing. That in itself is slightly creepy, but the creepiest thing for me was reading the script and watching the movie. When I was in it, she’s not expecting the bad, so you sort of forget some of that stuff. I am not a doll lover. I will say that much.”

STX Entertainment

What scares you the most in life?

“Not being able to protect people, I think. People that are less vulnerable. Worrying about people. We all know that worry is futile, but it doesn’t mean you don’t do it.”

This isn’t the first role that you’ve played with a creepy backstory. Why do you pick roles like Greta in The Boy or Maggie on The Walking Dead?

“I love good story. I love good twists. I love when stuff happens and I think that these are all films where you’re taken on a huge ride. We’re really, really lucky with Walking Dead to be in our sixth season, about to go into a seventh season and the writing is better and better and better every time. So, I just sort of go where the good story is and that happens to, for the last few years, have be in this genre.”

AMC

Would you be open to a sequel of The Boy, now that we saw Brahms being put back together?

“Ya, I’d definitely be open to a sequel. I would like to see, personally as a viewer, I’d like to see what’s going to happen now. So I would be open to a sequel and to being involved in it.”

Our readers remember you from your stint on The Vampire Diaries. Have you been keeping up with the latest episodes? What do you think about the show now that Nina Dobrev isn’t on it?

“I know! I’m actually friendly with everybody from Vampires, and I haven’t been watching the show as much. I try not to watch too much horror outside of making all this horrific stuff. But, you know, I think it’s good. It must be a huge shock for people, but it’s also great to move on into other areas for her. She’s been doing that show for a long time.”

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